Breech-loading fire-arm



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BREEGH LOADING FIRE ARM. N0:

Quasi mwmfow William llz'cer and Cassius JIbJBar76a- 61km Patented June 4, 1889.

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BREEGH LOADING FIRE ARM. No. 404,779. Patented June 4, 1889.

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W. DIOBR & O. M. BARKER.

BREEIGH LOADING FIRE ARM.

No. 404,779. Patented June 4, 1889.

lllllllllllh' =illlllllllllllI!Illllllllllllllllllllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM DICER AND CASSIUS M. BARKER, OF ALBION, MICHIGAN.

BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,779, dated June 4, 1889.

Application filed November 21, 1883. Serial No. 291,510. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, \VILLIAM DICER and CASSIUS' M. BARKER, citizens of the United States, residing at Albion, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Guns, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in guns having more than one barrel; and it consists in a certain novel construction and combination of devices fully described here inafter in connection with the accompanying drawings, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view, partly broken away, of a triple-barreled gun embodying our improvements. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly broken away, to show the mechanism for operating the locking-bolt. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the draw-baror link. Fig. 5 is a similar view of the locking-bolt and its operating-lever. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the compensating key, which is arranged in the breech-frame at the rear ends of the barrels. Fig. 7 is a similar view of one of the shell-extractors. Fig. 8 is atransverse sectional view of the gun on line 00 m of Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view through the depending notched tongue to illustrate a modified form of compensating plug. Figs. 10,1], and 12 are detail views of the hammers used in the improved gun. Figs. 13, 14, and 15 are similar views of the triggers and sears combined. Fig. 16 is a similar view of the searspring. Fig. 17 is a similar View of the adjustable guard at the front end of the stock. Fig. 18 is avertieal section on line y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 19 is a horizontal sectional view of the rear sight on the line .2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 20 is a detail view of the rear sight with its parts detached. Fig. 21 is a similar view of the front sight with its parts detached. Fig. 22 is a side view, partly in section, of a slightly-modified form of gun provided with two barrels. Fig. 23 is a detail view of a slightly-modified form of shellextractor which is adapted for use in the modified form of gun. Fig. 24: is a similar view of a modified form of adjustable guard as applied to the modified form of gun. Fig. 25 is a side view of the extractor, the adjustable guard, and the adjacent parts.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A designates the l)l0(3(3l1-f1'fllll0, which consists of the block a, the integral forwardly-extending arm a provided at its front end with the longitudinal vertical slot (1?, and the rearwardly extending tang a A transverse hinge-pin B is arranged in registering apertures in the front end of the breech-frame, and the right and left barrels O O and the lower barrels G which are secured rigidly together, are provided near their rear ends with a depending integral tongue 0, which fits in the slot at in the front end of the breechframe, and is providedin its front side with a half-round notch o to engage the hingepin.

The barrels C C are preferably adapted for shot, and the lower barrel 0 is designed for bullets, thereby combining in one piece the advantages of ,a shotgun and rifle, either of which may be fired at will.

The breech-block is provided near its upper end with a transverse perforation a", in which is arranged a locking-bolt D, and the barrels are provided at their rear ends with a rigid lug 0 which fits in a vertical slot- (6 in the breech-block and is transversely perforated, as seen at 0, to register with the perforation a. The rear edge of the lug and the rear side of the slot at are curved concentrically with the hinge-pin, so as to form a tight joint when the barrels are in their operative position.

The locking-bolt is flattened on its lower side at one end and tapered so as to fitsnugly in the perforation 0 which is also flattened at its lower side, whereby as the parts become worn the lost motion will be taken up automatically, and rattling will be prevented. The flattened portions of the bolt and perforation are inclined slightly toward the rear, in order to thereby dovetail or key the lug into the breech-frame, whereby the explosion in the barrels will not draw their rear ends away from the breech-block. The forward strain is sustained by the locking-bolt. An operating-lever D is pivoted to the under side of the tang a and engages at its front end in a notch (l in the locking-bolt, and D represents a spring which bears against the heel of the said lever and normally holds it in such a position that the locking-bolt is engaged with the lug E E represent the shell-extractors, which are provided at their rear ends with depending webs c e, oper ting in the slot a at the rear end of the arm a, and having guiding ribs 6 on their inner sides, which fit and operate in grooves e on opposite sides of the depending tongue 0, and E E represent the heads on the rear ends of the said extractors,

which fit in notches at the rear ends of the barrels and are adapted to engage the flanges .of the shells, whereby, when the extractors are forced rearwardly, the shells are expelled. The heads are provided with forwardly-extending guiding-pins 6 which fit and operate in suitable grooves or slots in the breechframe, and each head fits in a notch which is located between one of the shot-barrels and the rifle-barrel, and is curved to conform to the bores of the said barrels.

The front sides of the depending webs c e are inclined, and adapted, when the barreis are turned on the hinge -pin, to bear against the stationary pin 6, whereby the extractors are forced rearwardly. The upward movement of the rear ends of" the barrels is limited by a forward extension or stop 6 which is adapted to strike against the said stationary pin.

The front end of the arm a of the breechframe is rounded, and the rear end of the adj ustable guard is concaved to fit the front end of the said arm, and is provided with the projections or fingers f f to engage over the said rounded portion, and a spring clip or catch F is affixed to the front end of the said guard and is adapted to engage around the rifle-barrel to hold the front end of the guard in place. A stationary block f is aflixed to the under side of the said rifie-barrel, and is provided in its lower side with a notch f to fit over-the guard F when the latter is in place, and F represents an adjusting-block, which is mounted on the guard and fits snugly against the rear side of the stationary block to hold the rear end of the guard in place. This adjustable block is provided with a lon gitudinal slot f and a guide-screw f passes through the said slot and engages the guard, and F represents a compensating screw, which is mounted in alongitudinal threaded bore F in the guard, and bears at its front end against the adj ustable'bloek, whereby the latter may be adjusted to take up lost motion.

In order to take up the lost motion caused by the wear on the hinge-pin and the openings through which it passes, a compensating plug 0 is fitted in a longitudinal bore 0 in the depending tongue 0, and is provided at its front end with a notch c to fit the hingepin, and a compensating screw c is screwed in the threaded rear portion of the said bore to enable theplug to be tightened against the rear side of the pin.

Fig. 9 shows a modified form of compensating plug c which obviates the necessity of the hinge-pin. It is rounded at its front end, and fits in a rounded socket c in a cross-bar c at the front end of the breech-frame, and it is obvious that lost motion will be taken up by screwing the said plug forward.

R represents a depending lug on the heel of the barrels, which fits in an opening 1 in the breech-frame, and R represents a compensating key, which fits in the said frame and bears against the front side of the lug R. The adjacent sides of the lug and key are curved concentrically with the hingepin, and in order to take up lost motion caused by wear the key is driven down slightly.

G represents the trigger-plate, which is secured at its front end to the breech-frame, and the trigger-guard G, which is secured to the plate, is cut away at its rear end, and in the opening thus formed is fitted the cookinglever H, which conforms to the shape of the said guard, and forms when in its normal position a continuation thereof. This lever is provided with a finger-hold h, to enable it to be operated by the hand wh'eh grasps the stock, and a spring h, which is secured to the upper side of the triggerplate, bears at its free end on a shoulder 7L2 of the said lever and normally holds it in the position shown in Fig. l. i

J J 1' present the hammers for the shot-barrels, and they consist of the horizontal shanks j, mounted in suitable guides in the breechframe and embraced by the coiled springs j j to normally hold them pressed forward, and the firing-pins J J, connected at their rear ends to the rear ends of the shanks and operating in suitable guides in the brechframe, whereby their front ends strike the cartridges which are placed in the rear ends of the barrels'O C. The shanks j j are provided on their upper sides with the shoulders J 2 J for a purpose to be hereinafter explained, and they are provided in their lower sides with the sear-notches J 3 J The hammer K for the rifle-barrel is located between the hammers J J, and consists of the shank 7:, which slides in suitable guides in the breech-frame and is embraced by the coiled spring 7t, and the firing-pin K, which is aligned with the center of the rifle-barrel and is adapted to strike against a cartridge placed therein. The hammer K is provided on its upper side with the shoulder K and in its underside with the notches K K similar to those in the hammers J J.

L represents a draw-bar or link, which pivoted at its rear end to the eocking-lev r, and is provided at its front end with a transverse pin L, which bears on the hammers J J K in front of their shoulders, whereby, when the said cocking-lever is swung rearwardly, the hammers will be drawn back into the firing positions.

M M are the triggers for the hammers J J,

and they are pivoted in the trigger-plate, and 4 are provided at their front ends with the sears on m, which engage the sear-notches J 3 to hold the hammers at either safety or full cock, and M represents the trigger for the hammer K, which is provided at its front end with a scar m to engage the sear-notches K therein.

The draw-bar or link is provided at its front end with an upward extension L ,whieh is provided with a beveled rear side to bear against an inclined shoulder (l on the under side of the operating-lever D, whereby, when the draw-bar or link is drawn rearwardly to retract the hammers, the said extension slides on the inclined shoulder and swings the operating-lever laterally, thereby disengaging the locking-bolt from the lug on the rear end of the barrels and allowing the barrels to be turned on their pivot. The sear-spring lll is provided with the separate tongues m m m which bear, respectively, on shoulders at the rear sides of the triggers M M M, and normally hold the triggers in position to cause the sears to engage the sear-notches.

It will be apparent from the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, that the three hammers are retracted simultaneously by the operation of the eockinglever,.and the said lever is immediately returned to its normal position by its spring, and the act of cocking .the piece also retracts the locking-bolt and allows the breech of the barrels to be exposed to insert eartridges. If the piece has been previously fired, the act of raisingthe breech also expels the exploded shells, as before described.

In order to ease the hammers down to safety after having been drawn back to fullcock, the cocking-lever is drawn back, the triggers are drawn back to release the scars from the notches in the hammers and allow the latter to spring forwarduntil their shoulders strike against the pin in the draw-bar or link, and then the cocking-lever is slowly eased to its position, leaving the hammers at safety.

The front sight consists of a slotted springplate N, an angle-piece or, arranged in the slot of said plate, and a check-screw or, adapted tohold one or the other end of the angle-piece raised.

The rear sight consists of a spring-plate O, secured to the tang of the breech-frame, the casing or cylinder 0, the base 0 secured to the lower end of the cylinder and pivoted to the rear end of the spring-plate, the barrel O fitting snugly in the cylinder, the 'apertured disk 0, having a shank 0", adjustable vertically in the barrel, and the sight 1 adjustable vertically 011 the shank 0.

Fig. 22 illustrates a double-barreled gun to which our improvements are applied, a few of the said parts being slightly modified to suit the difference of construction, and the corresponding parts of the two forms are provided with similar letters of reference.

The shell-extractor, instead of being formed in two parts, as in the first form, consists of a single shank operating in a suitable guideopening in the breech-frame and a head which fits between the two barrels and is provided with a notch e to receive and slide on the lower edge of the lug c at the rear ends of the barrels. The adjustable guard is also slightly modified in form. The stationary block f,instead of fitting over the guard, extends into a slot Q therein, and is provided on its frontside with a beveled shoulder g, which is engaged by a spring catch or bolt Q on the guard. The adj nsting-bloek F also fits in the said slot Q at the rear side of the stationary block, and the ad ,justing-screw F bears against the rear side of the said block, and is adapted when turned to take up lost motion caused by wear. This construction is clearly illustrated in Fig. 24.

Having described our invention, we elai ml. The combination, with the breeehframe having the barrels pivoted thereto, of the adjustable guard engaging the front end of the breech-frame at its rear end and provided at its front end with a spring-catch engaging the barrel, the stationary block on the barrel and adjustable block on the guard bearing against the stationary block, and the compensating serew mounted in the guard and bearing against the adjustable block, subtantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with the breech-frame having the barrels pivoted thereto, of the ad j ustable guard provided at its front end with a spring-catch F to engage the barrel, the stationary block f on the barrel the slotted adjustable block F mounted on a guidingserew on the guard and adapted to bear against the rear side of the stationary block, and the compensating screw F mounted in a threaded bore F in the guard and bearing at its front end against the rear side of the adjustable block, substantially as specified.

The combination, with the breech-frame having a transverse hinge-pin in its front end, of the depending notched tongue on the barrel engaging the said hinge-pin, the depending lug R on the heel of the barrel, fitting in a slot in the breech-frame, and the compensating key R, located in front of the said lug and bearing against its front side, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with the breech-frame having a transverse hinge-pin, of the depending notched tongue on the barrel engaging the said pin, the compensating plug arranged in a longitudinal bore in the tongue and hearing against the hinge-pin, and the screw fitting in a threaded portion of the said here and bearing against the said plug, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

' 5. The combination, with the breech-frame provided at its front end with a longitudinal slot, of the depending tongue on the barrel fitting in the said slot and pivoted to the breech-frame, the compensating plug fitting in a longitudinal bore in the tongue, and the ad j ustable guard attached to the front end of the breech-frame, all constructed and arranged substantially as specified.

6. The combination, with the breech-frame and the barrels pivoted thereto and having a depending tongue 0, of the extractor mounted on the barrel and provided with a depending web 6, having an inclined front side, the stationary pin 6 in the breech-frame adjacent to the said Web and adapted to bear on the inclined front side, and provided with ribs engaging grooves in the tongue 0 thereof, and the head on the extractor, fitting in a notch at the breech of the barrels, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. The combination, with the breech-frame and the barrels pivoted thereto, of the extractors mounted on the barrels and provided with heads fitting in notches at the rear ends of the barrels, the forwardly-extending guiding-pins e on the heads, the depending webs e e, provided with inclined front sides operating in contact with a stationary pin a, and the extensions or stops 6 at the lower ends of the said webs on the front sides of the same, which are adapted to bear against the said stationary pin to limit the movement of the barrels, substantially as specified.

8. The combination of the breech-block having a transverse perforation a, the barrels provided with a lug -c having a flattened perforation 0 adapted to register with the perforation a the locking-bolt mounted in said perforations and having a flattened lower side and provided with a notch d, the operating-lever D pivoted on the breechblock and having its front end engaging the notch d, and the spring D secured to the breech-block and bearing on the heel of the lever, as set forth.

9. The combination, with the breech-frame having the block a, provided with a transverse perforation a, and the barrels pivoted to the said frame and adapted to bear at their rear ends against the said block, of the lug c on the rear end of the barrels, fitting ina vertical slot in. the block a, and provided with a transverse perforation 0 which is flattened at its lower side and registers with the perforation a, and the locking-bolt D, mounted in the perforation a and provided with a tapered and flattened inner end to fit the perforation in the lug c and the spring-actuated lever connected to the said bolt, substantially as specified.

10. The combination, with the barrel having an open breech and the hammer aligned with the breech, of the cocking-lever arranged adjacent to the trigger-guard, and the drawbar or link having its rear end pivoted to the cocking-lever and its front end engaging the hammer, substantially as specified.

11. The combination, with the hammer arranged opposite the openbreech of the barrel and provided with a shoulder, of the cookinglever, the spring bearing at its free end on vided with a shoulder, of the trigger-guard cut away at its rear end, the cocking-lever pivoted to the trigger-plate and fitting in the opening in the trigger-guard to complete the same when in its normal position, and the draw-bar or link connected to the cocking-lever and provided with a transverse pin engaging the shoulder on the hammer, substantially as specified.

13. The combin ation,with thebreech-frame, the barrels pivoted thereto and provided with a rearwardly-extending perforated lug c fitting in an opening in the breech-frame, and the locking-bolt mounted in the breech-frame and engaging the perforated lug, of the springactuated operating-lever connected at its front end to the locking-bolt and provided with an inclined shoulder d, the hammer mounted in the breech-frame and provided with a shoulder, the cocking-lever provided with an operating-spring, and the draw-bar or link pivoted at its rear end to the cocking-lever and provided at its front end with a transverse pin engaging the shoulder on the hammer, and a beveled projection which bears against the inclined shoulder (1 when the draw-bar or link is drawn rearwardly, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

14. The combination, with the barrels C 0' C of the hammers J J, provided with the shanks j j, having rear notches J 3 and shoulders J and the firing-pins J, connected to the shanks, the hammer K, provided with a firing-pin and having a shoulder K and searnotches K the springs coiled on the said hammers, the triggers M M, provided at their front ends with sears m m to engage the rear notches in the hammers J J, the trigger M, provided with the sear m to engage the searnotches in the hammer K, the sear-springs bearing on the heels of the said triggers, the cocking-lever, and the draw bar or link connected to the said lever and provided with a transverse pin engaging the shoulders J J and K on the hammers, substantially as specified.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto afiixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WVILLIAM DIOER. CASSIUS M. BARKER.

\Vitnesses for William Dicer: HENRY M. DEARING, GEO. V. DEARING.

WVitnesses for Cassius M. Barker:

HALLIE BARTELS, EUGENE DUGUE. 

